HOQUIAM — Huddled together in a humid mass and hanging like harried trolley car riders from the escalating ledges of the trophy podium, Forks wrestlers found themselves in a familiar position at the conclusion of the Class 1A regional wrestling tournament.
They were ceremoniously mugging for their traditional tournament championship team photo.
That glory-soaked destination is certainly well-worn ground for the Spartans, but the route and navigation Saturday were different than in the past.
Forks took the regional title with a score of 209.5, and needed every last effort as they managed to top the 206 team points of Castle Rock.
In total, 11 Spartans qualified for this weekend’s state championship tournament, including six first-time qualifiers for the Mat Classic at the Tacoma Dome.
Forks’ Dimitri Sampson, Joel Mohn, Tristan Tumaua, Reece Moody and Johnny Lua all punched their inaugural tickets to the state meet.
Joining their first-timer teammates at the big singlet sashay will be experienced Spartans Sebastian Morales, Alvaro Ortiz, Garrison Schumack, Javier Contreras, Jack Dahlgren and Miguel Morales.
Forks’ Alan Ensastegui placed fifth at 120 pounds and will be an alternate at the state tournament.
“I was really surprised,” Forks coach Bob Wheeler said.
“That was huge. I mean, we won by three points. Without [the first-time qualifiers], we don’t even come close to this [regional championship].”
Wheeler doubled down on his praise of Lua and Mohn, saying, “I’m very pleased with my 52s.”
Both wrestlers reside in the 152-pound classification, and both came into the tournament without a lot of expectations and minimal postseason experience.
Despite those preambles, Mohn and Lua battled all day on their way to place second and fourth, respectively.
The most dramatic match of the evening came in the 182-pound title match between Forks’ Jack Dahlgren and Castle Rock’s Austin Darvell.
Forks had the points lead in a strongman’s chokehold throughout the first two rounds of action, but a relentless barrage of Castle Rock’s red wrestlers made a hell-bent run at the regional team championship in the trophy rounds.
Coming down to the wire, Forks clearly needed every point they could muster in order to clinch the team trophy.
The news was not good early in the match, as Dahlgren was on his heels and fell behind to the maniacal Rocket who knew no path but forward to attack.
By the middle of the second round, Dahlgren was trailing 3-0 by the referees’ count.
Dahlgren notched an escape point at the end of the second period but still appeared headed for defeat at the hands of a quality opponent.
In the final seconds of the match, though, Dahlgren reversed his fortune by flipping positions with Darvell and holding him in a viper tight cradle hold until the final buzzer sounded.
When the points were tallied, Dahlgren claimed victory by a score of 4-3.
Sebastian Morales also claimed a regional title, his coming at 113 pounds, with a 9-5 victory over Tony Williams of Montesano.
The rest of the title matches were not as kind to Forks.
Garrison Schumack fell 13-7 at 132 pounds, Javier Contreras lost via injury default at 145 pounds, Joel Mohn was pinned at 152 pounds and Dimitri Sampson lost a macho-man’s duel with Tal’ib Meeks of Castle Rock at 195 pounds when he wound up on the wrong end of a pin after holding a 4-2 lead with just 1:11 left in the match.
The heavyweight class held better results for Forks, though, as the Spartans provided both title match participants.
Familiar foes Miguel Morales and Tristan Tumaua sparred for the tournament championship for the second straight week, with Morales ultimately claiming victory over his teammate.
Still, all of the points went to Forks, which was just enough to seal the team points championship.
“It was phenomenal,” Morales said after posing for his trophy photos. “Everyone went out and gave it everything they had.”
Although he would never be confused for a small person, Morales certainly cuts a svelte form in the Andre the Giant-like heavyweight classification.
Morales is probably closer in weight to the 220-pound division but says that he enjoys the big-man battles.
“Everyone’s like, ‘Oh, he’s small and he’s not going to be able to do anything.’ And then I just go out there and prove them wrong as fast as I can,” said Morales, who correctly predicted the timing of his first pin of the day (30 seconds).
“And I really like food,” added a wide-smiled Morales.
At the end of the day, Wheeler was feeling pretty high on the filed efforts and future prospects of his Spartans.
“We have four guys who have a legitimate chance of getting into the [state] finals,” Wheeler said, noting that the Spartans should post strong team numbers as well.
Last year the Spartans took second at state as a team.
Unfortunately, some untimely injuries may derail a few of those championship bids.
In addition to the usual strains, pulls and dislocations that all wrestlers experience at the end of a long season, Contreras and Schumack both aggravated fairly serious rib injuries during Saturday’s competition.
Of Contreres, specifically, Wheeler said, “We were really expecting him to be a high placer [at state].”
For his part, Morales was employing the cautious wait-and-see mode as well when it came to anticipating results from the 27th annual Mat Classic.
“I don’t really feel anything yet, until I’ve got that [state] title in my hands,” Morales said. “Stuff happens at state. It’s a whole new ballpark.”
Forks will compete in the Mat Classic state wrestling championships at the Tacoma Dome on Friday and Saturday.
